Infant&#39;s garments



Nov. 13, 1962 v. R. DEL GUERCIO INFANT'S GARMENTS 5 SheetsSheet 1 Filed May 2. 1960 INVENTOR Victor R. De! Guercio FIG.5.

ATTORNEY Nov. 13, 1962 v. R. DEL GUERCIO 6 INFANTS GARMENTS Filed May 2, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Victor R. De! Guercio v. R. DEL GUERCIO 3,063,452

Nov. 13, 1962 INFANTS GARMENTS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 2, 1960 FIGJI.

FIG.I3.

45 INVENTOR Vicicr R. Del Guercio FIG. I4. 0% w.%w&m7 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,063,452 INFANTS GARMENTS Victor R. Del Guercio, Larchmont, N.Y., assignor to The Modella Manufacturing Company, Inc, Port Chester, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed May 2, 1960, Ser. No. 26,089 1 Claim. (Q1. 128-284) The present invention relates to infants garments and more particularly to a diaper construction specifically designed for a male infant and a diaper construction specifically designed for female infants.

It is well known that most of the moisture from the urine emitted by a male baby is received by the high front area of the diaper regardless of whether the male baby sleeps on his stomach or on his back. On the other hand, most of the moisture of the urine emitted by a female baby is received in the middle or crotch front area when she sleeps on her stomach (but lower in front than in the case of the male baby) and most of the moisture is received in the middle or crotch rear area of the diaper when the female baby sleeps on her back.

Heretofore the problem which has confronted and vexed the manufacturer of diapers is to produce a diaper which will obtain the maximum absorption in the shortest possible time, that is, in a matter of seconds, to prevent the moisture from going through from the inner or body contacting surface of the diaper to and through the outer surface thereof with the resultant wetting of the outing wearing apparel, bedding or other article which happens to be in contact with the diaper.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a diaper construction in which all of the urine emitted will be substantially instantaneously and completely absorbed by the inner material of the diaper so that the urine is so completely absorbed that it cannot penetrate the outer water-repellent material of the diaper. Such an arrangement will prevent the wetting of the wearers outer clothes, without the necessity of using an air-tight rubber or plastic lining.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an article of this kind in which a plurality of additional layers of absorbing material is provided in that area of the diaper which receives the major portion of the urine emitted by the infant so that the major portion of the absorbing material of the diaper is located in this area.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a diaper structure in which the outer part of the diaper is made up of at least one layer of moisture resistant, water repellent material so that this outer part serves as a backing member which will repel the moisture absorbed by the absorbing layers and thus cause the moisture to spread out over the absorbing material rather than penetrate the outer part and cause wetting of the wearing apparel or bedding.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a diaper comprising a combination of a diaper liner, a diaper constructed in accordance with the present invention and a diaper cover which cooperate with one another to quickly dry the skin of the wearer and maintain the skin in dry condition, absorb and hold the moisture taken from the liner, prevent the passing of the moisture to the outer garments or bedding and provide for a flow of fresh dry air in the diaper area so as to promote the drying of the diaper construction and the prevention of the formation of ammonia and the escape of any ammonia which may form.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be hereinafter more fully described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings in which the same parts are denoted Fatented Nov. 13, 1962 ice by the same reference numerals throughout the several views:

FIGURE 1 is aperspective view of a diaper for a male infant constructed'in accordance with the present invention with the inner or body contacting surface uppermost,

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the moisture absorbing layers at one stage of the making of the diaper,

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the diaper at a subsequent stage of manufacture,

FIGURE 4 is a perspective viewof the diaper at a further subsequent stage of manufacture,

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken on the line;55 of FIGURE 4,

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a diaper fora female infant constructed in accordance with the present invention with the inner or body contacting surface uppermost,

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the moisture absorbing layers at one stage of production of the female diaper,

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the absorbing layers at a subsequent stage of manufacture,

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of the female diaper at a further subsequent stage of manufacture,

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of the female diaper at a still further subsequent stage of manufacture,

FIGURE 11 is a perspective view of the completed female diaper,

FIGURE 12 is a sectional view taken on the line 12-12 of FIGURE 11,

FIGURE 13 is an exploded perspective view of a diaper construction made in accordance with the present invention,

FIGURE 14 is a sectional view taken on the line 14 of FIGURE 13, and

FIGURE 15 is a vertical sectional view of the diaper cover of FIGURE 13.

Referring more particularly to the drawings and especially to FIGURES 1 through 5 in which is illustrated the diaper for use on male infants, 10 indicates the inner or body contacting part of the diaper and 11 indicates the outer or backing .part thereof. The inner or body contacting part 10 of the diaper comprises three layers of absorbing material 12, 13 and 14. The layers 12, 13 and 14 comprise two sheets of absorbing material, such as, cotton rib knit material. It is not essential but it is preferable that the inherent oils of the cotton fiber from which the cotton knit material is made be removed from the fibers before they are knit into the cotton fabric.

The sheet making up the layer 12 extends substantially the full length and Width of the diaper but the othersheet making up the layers 13 and 14 is folded in the direction indicated by the arrow 15 in FIGURE 2 of the drawings along a widthwise fold line 16 to form the two layers 13 and 14 which are of the same length and width. The layers 13 and 14 extend across substantially the entire width of the diaper but are located in the upper front area of the diaper only. The layers 12, 13 and 14 are stitched together as indicated at 17 adjacent the fold line 16.

The outer or backing part 11 comprises two layers 18 and 19 which extend substantially the full length and width of the diaper. And each layer is made up of a single sheet of water repellent cotton knit interlock fabric which is non-ribbed so that each layer is moist resistant. As can be seen from FIGURES 3 and 5 of the drawings, the layer 18 is slightly longer than the layer 19 as indicated at 180. In the manufacture of the diaper, the layers 12, 13 and 14 of absorbing material in the condition illustrated in FIGURE 2 of the drawings are laid upon the layer 19 and the layer 18 is then superimposed upon the layers 12, 13 and 14 as indicated in FIGURE 3 of the drawings. The layers 12, 13, 14, 18 and 19 are then stitched together along one edge portion thereof as indicated by the stitching 20. The layer 18 is then folded along the stitch line 20 so that the portion of the layer 18 adjacent the stitches 20 will overlie the adjacent free ends of the layers 12, 13, 14 and 19 and the layer 18 will be disposed beneath or outwardly of the layer 19 as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5 of the drawings.

A binding or tape 21 overlies the free end portions of the layers 12, 18 and 19 and is secured thereto by stitching 22 as shown in FIGURE 1 of the drawings. Bindings or tapes 23 overlie the side edge portion of the layers 12, 13, 14, 18 and 19 and are secured thereto as by stitches 24 as illustrated in FIGURE 1 of the drawings.

V In the use of the diaper illustrated in FIGURES 1 through 5, the diaper will be applied to the male infant by placing the layers 12 and 14 in contact with the skin or the infant with the layers 13 and 14 in the front area of the infant. With the diaper thus applied to the male infant, the major portion of the moisture from the urine emitted by the infant will be received by the high front area of the diaper whether or not the male infant is lying on his stomach or on his back. In this way the largest amount of absorbing material of the diaper will be disposed in the area in which the greatest portion of the moisture is emitted. In this area it will be noted that there are three layers 12, 13 and 14 of absorbing material so that the moisture will be immediately and completely absorbed by these three layers. It will also be noted that the layers 13 and 14 are positioned between the infants body and the layer 12 so that most of the {moisture will be absorbed by the layers 13 and 14 before it reaches the underlying layer 12. The amount of moisture which will pass through the layers 13 and 14 and into contact with the underlying layer 12 will not be suflicient to spread to the portion of the layer 12 which is in contact with the body of the infant. The fact that the layers 13 and 14 are formed from a single sheet of the absorbing material and folded along the fold line 16 will prevent the moisture which is received by the layer 14 from flowing over the edge of the layer 14 onto the exposed portion of the layer 12. On the other hand, the fact that the sheet forming layers 13 and 14 are folded on the line 16 the moisture received by the layer 14 will spread towards its rearward edge but will follow the fold 16 and be absorbed by the layer 13 by capillary attraction. The stitches 17 will also augment this capillary attraction.

I 1 fact that the two layers 18 and 19 are moisture resistant and water repellent, any moisture coming into contact therewith cannot penetrate the layers 18 and 19 but will be repelled so that the repelled moisture will rapidly spread over the area defined by the layers 13 {and 14 and the underlying portion of the layer 12. It is to be observed that with this arrangement the moisture while originally coming into contact with a relatively small area of the inner part of the diaper, it is actually sucked from the infants body and will rapidly spread to a much larger area of the inner part. The removal of the inherent oils of the cotton fiber makes layers 12, 13 and 14 drier and more absorbent. By using a ribbed material greater surface area for absorption is presented to the moisture and this accelerates the absorption of the moisture.

Turning now to FIGURES 6 through 12 of the drawsings, there is illustrated therein the form of diaper structure adaptable for use on female infants. The inner or body contacting part of the female diaper is indicated :generally at 25 and the outer or backing part is indicated at 26. The inner part 26 comprises a layer 27 and a plurality of layers 28, 29, 30 and 31. The layers 27 through 31 are highly absorbent and are made of the same material as the layers 12, 13 and 14,

The layer 27 has a length and width substantially equal to the length and width of the diaper. The layers 28 through 31 are formed from a tubular in cross section integral piece of the absorbent material which has a length substantially equal to the length of the diaper and a width slightly less than the width of the layer 27. The layers 28 through 31 are formed by folding the tubular piece along its central longitudinal axis as indicated at 32. The piece comprising the layers 28 through 31 are laid upon the layer 27 as indicated in FIGURE 7 of the drawings with the free edge portions of the layers 28-81 parallel to the longitudinal axis of the layer 27 and one of the free edges thereof along a line which is closer to said free edge than it is to the longitudinal axis of the layer 27. A row of stitching 3'3 secures the layers 28-31 to the layer 27 adjacent the free edge portions of layers 28-31. The layers 28-31 are now swung about the stitching 33 as a pivot in the direction of the arrow 34 as shown in FIGURE 7. The adjacent free edge portion of the layer 27 is now swung in the direction of the arrow 35 as indicated in FIGURE 8 of the drawings to overlie the adjacent folded over portions of the layers 28 through 31. The layers 27 through 31 are now secured together by a row of stitching 36. This free edge portion of the layer 27 will now be swung back in the direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow 35 in FIGURE 8.

The outer or backing part 26 comprises two layers 37 and 38 of moisture resistant, water repellent material which is the same as the layers 18 and 19 of the male infant diaper. As illustrated in FIGURE 9 of the drawings, the layer 37 which is longer than the layer 38 is placed upon the layers 27-31 and the layer 38 is positioned under the layers 27-31. All of the layers are now secured together adjacent their opposite end portions by rows of stitchings 39 as can be seen from FIGURE 10 of the drawings. It will be noted that the rows of stitching 39 are equally spaced from the adjacent free edges of the layer 37 and that the extra length of the layer 37 provides a fullness in the layer 37Vas is clear from an inspection of FIGURE 10. At this stage in the manufacture of the diaper it is turned inside out by a lateral movement of the layer 37 with respect to the other la ers so that the diaper now reaches the stage illustrated in FIGURE 11 of the drawings. It will be noted that the opposite end portions of the layer 37 overlie the opposite end portions of the layers 28-31 and 38. This is made possible due to the fullness of the layer 37 illustrated in FIGURE 10 of the drawings which results from the fact that the layer 37 is longer than the other layers. The diaper is completed by securing to the opposite side edge portions of the layers 27, '37 and 38 bindings or tapes 40 by means of stitches 41.

It will be noted that in the finished diaper the layer 37 will overlie the layer 38.

In the use of the female form of diaper, the diaper will be applied to the female infant with the inner part 25 contacting the body so that that portion of the diaper which includes the layers 28 through 31 will contact the body of the infant in both the front and back areas adjacent the crotch. As was pointed out above most of the moisture of the urine emitted by the female baby is received in the middle or crotch front area of the diaper when the baby sleeps on her stomach but when the baby sleeps on her back most of the moisture is rece ved n the middle or crotch rear area of the diaper. With this arrangement the moisture will be quickly and completely absorbed by the layers 28 through 31. It will be noted that in this female form of diaper the pluralities of layers of absorbent material extend substantially the full length of the diaper but do not extend completely across the width of the diaper. The reason for this is that the urine from the female baby does not spread laterally to nearly as great an extent as does the urine emitted by the male infant due to the differences in force with which the urine is emitted by the male and female infants. Since the urine in the case of the female infant does not spread as rapidly as that of the male additional layers of absorbent material are disposed along the medial portion of the entire length of the diaper.

In the diaper structure illustrated in FIGURES 13 through 15 of the drawings, 42 indicates a diaper liner. At 43 is indicated a diaper constructed in accordance with the male diaper illustrated in FIGURES 1 through 5 or the female diaper constructed in accordance with FIGURES 6 through 12 of the drawings. At 44 is indicated a diaper cover constructed in accordance with applicants US. Patent No. 2,695,615, granted November 30, 195 4.

As shown in FIGURE 14 of the drawings, the diaper liner 42 comprises a body-contacting member 45 which is made in accordance with US. Patent No. 2,905,176, granted September 22, 1959, to Harold F. Davidson. The body-contacting member 4-5 is an open, porous mesh fabric made from yarns of requisite softness and hand so that little moisture remains on the surface of the interstices. It is characterized by the feature that the fabric allows the moisture readily to pass therethrough in one direction but does not permit it to migrate back. The fabric selected for the body-contacting member should pass a maximum of moisture through and retain a minimum of the moisture in the interstices. The yarn from which the body-contacting member is made should be of essentially hydrophobic character. Suitable for such purposes are nylon, dacron, coated cotton, orlon, cellulose acetate, etc. These fibers are therefore natural or synthetic which provide the requisite extent of hydrophobic characteristics. The body-contacting member 45 is of essentially mesh-like construction that affords porosity requisite to insure passage therethrough of Water. Maximum transmission of the water with a minimum retention thereof in the interstices is provided by fabrics of varying mesh counts that afford requisite porosity which may readily be ascertained by simple testing.

As shown in FIGURE 15 of the drawings, the diaper cover 44 comprises an outer layer of water repellent knit cotton indicated by the numeral 47, an intermediate layer of diflicult to stretch or relatively non-stretchable water repellent material, such as flannelette, treated to repel water, indicated by the numeral 48, and an inner layer of water repellent knit cotton being indicated by the numeral 49.

In the use of this diaper construction, the diaper liner 42 is placed next to the skin of the wearer, the diaper 43 is next positioned in place and the diaper cover 44 is then placed over the diaper .3. The moisture will rapidly pass through the body contacting member 45 of the diaper liner 42 and will flow into contact with the absorbing layers of the diaper 43. The diaper 43 will not only receive the moisture indicated at 50 in FIGURE 13 as it passes through the diaper liner 42 but will actually suck the moisture from the liner 42 and will absorb the moisture as described above in connection with the male and female diapers illustrated in FIGURES 1 through 12 of the drawings.

The small fraction of the moisture which penetrates through the moisture resistant, water repellent layers of the diaper 43 will be prevented from escaping onto the wearing apparel or bedding in contact with the diaper cover 44. The diaper cover 44 is of such a nature that it will allow the wearers skin to breathe by allowing air to circulate in the diaper area. This arrangement will assist in drying the diaper liner and also the skin of the wearer in that area, will help to prevent the formation of ammonia and if any ammonia does form it will escape through the porous knit diaper cover 44.

This combination of the diaper liner 42, the diaper 43 and the diaper cover 44 provides a diaper construction which will change the heretofore methods of diapering. The use of this combination diaper construction provides the following advantages:

(1) Reduce the number of diaper changes by one-half and thus save Work.

(2) Requires less diapers to store and thus saves space.

(3) Fewer diapers to buy, handle and wash thus save time, money and energy.

(4) Keeps bedding and clothes dry.

(5) Keeps baby free from diaper rash and therefore eliminates the necessity of powders, ointments and salves.

(6) Helps baby to sleep all night since there are no wet, cold diapers against its skin.

These diapers may be made in any size and can be made in larger sizes for use by men and women Who are incontinent by virtue of having no control over the functions of the bladder.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiments of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claim.

What I claim is:

A diaper comprising an outer part including two layers of material one of which layers is longer than the other, and an inner part including a first sheet of absorbent material extending substantially the full length and width of the diaper and a second sheet of absorbent material folded in half and secured to the first sheet and located at and coextensive with the front area of the diaper, one end portion of the first sheet of absorbent material being secured to said layers of the outer part and the opposite end portion of the first sheet and the end portions of the second sheet being secured to said layers of the outer part, the longer of the layers of the outer part overlying the end portions of the first and second sheets and the shorter layer of the outer part, the layers of the absorbent material of the inner part being capable of quickly and completely absorbing and retaining the fluid discharged by the wearer of the diaper.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,062,594 McNair Dec. 1, 1936 2,515,737 Schwarzberger July 18, 1950 2,695,615 Del Guercio Nov. 30, 1954 2,770,237 Starr Nov. 13, 1956 2,845,069 Jamison et al July 29, 1958 2,896,626 Voigtman July 28, 1959 2,905,176 Davidson Sept. 22, 1959 2,991,786 Sullivan July 11, 1961 

